The break in Dubai has been a chance for Celtic to recharge and I do think that all the signs were there that it was badly needed.

As I have said before, you can talk yourself into being tired but for guys like Kieran Tierney and Craig Gordon, they definitely needed the breather.

back in my day Jock Stein would take you out of the team, often when you least expected it. It was simply a way to make sure that you weren’t being burned out and although we never saw it that way at the time, it was for your own good.

A kid like Tierney will never be tired when he is playing all the time. He’ll just enjoy being in the first-team and everything that goes with it, but there is a responsibility to players to manage them correctly and you don’t want them playing too much football in case it is responsible for injuries further down the line.

In any case, the chance to get away and train with the sun on their backs should prove to be beneficial for Celtic. They are able to return and ease their way into the Scottish Cup, with a home tie that ensures there is no difficult travelling.

This week will have given Rodgers a genuine chance to get onto the training ground to do a bit of work, something that isn’t always possible when you have a glut of games on top of one another.